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Updated: May 27, 2026
A Rapid Method for Multispectral Fluorescence Imaging of Frozen Tissue Sections
Published on: March 30, 2020
Improved detection of mycobacteria species in formalin-fixed tissue sections
John S Pedersen1, Iain Clarke, John Mills
1TissuPath Specialist Pathology, Mount Waverley, Vic., Australia.
Aims:
To develop an antibody broadly reactive against mycobacterial species, which will improve detection of mycobacteria in tissue sections by immunohistochemistry (IHC).
Methods:
A sheep antisera was developed by immunization with multiple mycobacteria, and was tested by IHC against a range of mycobacteria in tissues from many species, as well as negative tissue controls and other bacteria.
Results:
The sheep antiserum, MAS-01, reacted with all 18 mycobacterial species tested, but did not react with uninfected inflammatory tissues. Although MAS-01 cross-reacted with two microbial genera which are related to mycobacteria (Corynebacteria and Proprionibacteria), it did not with Nocardia or Actinomyces. The antibody was more sensitive than the Ziehl-Neelsen stain for detection of tissue mycobacteria, and shortened the time required to identify these infections.
Conclusion:
The MAS-01 antiserum will facilitate rapid identification of tissue mycobacterial infection by histopathologists.
